JESSICA WEISS: REPLAY

Paintings and works on paper
December 1st, 2006 - January 7th, 2007

A.M. Richard Fine Art is pleased to announce, Replay, paintings and works on paper by Jessica Weiss.

For the past ten years, Ms. Weiss has been questioning notions of memory and how they permeate present experiences. Forms and patterns inspired, re-interpreted or directly culled from vintage wall coverings are insinuated in fairy tale narratives. By appropriating images processed in a different medium, the artist is lending past pictures another life and by extension giving these the possibility of another "playing field" hence the title of the exhibition "Replay."

The iconography of the artist's vocabulary and choice of bright pop colors is part of a collective all-American domestic and cultural familiarity i.e. cuddly bears and fawns, toy soldiers and cowboy gear, standardized hunting and chinoiserie scenes. However, primary sources of inspiration for these 20th century codified or standardized images, are clearly obscured. Traveling through both paintings and works on paper is a surreal narrative. The artist's language is evocative of childhood imagery yet distinctive in its rejection of a style associated with comic-book illustrations. Bold patches of painterly abstractions paired with delicate curtains of paint drips present and layers a dichotomy of form and content. Through crayon hues and glittered surfaces a playful innocence is staged in a subtly dark scenario.